.....except you left off the part where he said, "The only one I want to succeed is Michigan". Nobody here is just saying, I hope the Big Ten sucks and loses, it's just a lot of people don't really care about the conference's success/failure, it's all about Michigan

sparty will be at the Post by 5pm. We have nothing to worry about. Besides they cant afford the all session pass anyway. We are in session 2 and they are in session 1. I cant imagine they would stay even if they has an all sessions pass.

I will be there Saturday and I will not stoop to sparty's level and boo any young athlete trying his/her best to represent their school. These are students regardless of the color of their uniform.

I hope sparty makes an ass out of themselves. I will take photos and post them.

B) Tickets for the UofM game start at $75 versus MSU tickets starting at $44. The UofM ticket average price are going for more than double the average asking price of MSU tickets... The other game is not a big opponent - so it appears as if there is greater demand for UofM and hence most likely more UofM fans. Or perhaps their Dantonio-like hatred for us is causing them to attend our game to boo us and drive the tickets up! (Prices per StubHub)

Or perhaps their Dantonio-like hatred for us is causing them to attend our game to boo us and drive the tickets up!

OK, now that's a little paranoid. The price differential is easily explained when you consider the salary scales in both the food service and custodial science industries that attract most Spartan graduates.

Sorry, I'm not paying to see state. I'm paying for the full strip to watch a real basketball team. Hopefully Michigan makes it to the Third Round and I can haul ass from the JLA for hockey to Aubie for basketball.

there is zero reason except if UM plays MSU that any sane Michigan fan should care, much less have an emotional reaction amounting to "booing," about Michigan State. none. positive or nothing. pettiness like talking 'smack' or even having a debate of any merit is worthless garbage that leads to exaggerations/assessments of the UM fanbase, something I'm sick of dealing bc of idiots who get involved in the politics of "fandom."

Lighten up Francis. Are you kidding me? You make it sound like drudgery. These events are fun and it is interesting to see which way the crowd is swayed. I think it will be fun if either M or MSU or both get some Goliath booing at the Palace. Afterwards you hit the bars, meet some neat people from other parts of the USA, and share a few cold ones.

When I went to first round (technically second round) games in Cleveland a few years ago, the first two games of the day were ticketed separately than the latter two. Is that how they are doing it at the Palace? If so, MSU would be on the first bill and Michigan on the second bill.

I realize many fans may buy tickets for both sets of games, but the two B1G teams will not be playing in front of exactly the same crowd.

But there are probably a lot of people who bought full session tickets, not knowing what session UM or MSU would be in (after it became highly likely weeks ago that both would be there) and not wanting to risk it selling out. A lot of them will probably try to sell the session they don't want, though.

That's the way it's been every time I've gone. They've literally kicked everyone out of the arena between sessions and you need the second ticket of the day to reenter.

Which, as an aside, makes the Palace a relatively bad venue for the first couple rounds of the NCAAs. 3 of the 4 times I've gone, it's been in a relatively urban arena: Milwaukee twice and the Verizon Center in DC. Between sessions, you just go to a bar, watch the other games and drink less expensive beer. Where are you supposed to go at the Palace? I guess you could tailgate, which is a better option than the games I went to when it was at the Rosemont Horizon (Jason Kidd beating Duke his freshman year), where you basically had to schlep to an airport hotel bar.

For basketball it's very different. Remember, they've been to six Final Fours under Izzo, while we had an NCAA scandal and then a decade of bad teams. They've established a huge fanbase while our fanbase is just starting to come back. They will send a lot of fans to the Palace, most likely more than us (though we'll still have a solid turnout). It shouldn't matter for the Thursday game but may for the Saturday one (if both teams win Thursday).

and two of the people going with me are MSU fans. With that said, I wouldn't boo them even if I was among all Michigan fans. That action is reserved for the shameless and/or the insecure (expect MSU fans to boo loudly and proudly Saturday evening if both MSU and Michigan make it to Saturday).

I bought tickets for all 3 sessions in December (afternoon Thursday, night Thursday, Saturday). When I bought tickets, individual session tickets had not gone on sale yet and the whole lower bowl was sold out and so was much of the upper level. I do not think many of the tickets for these games were sold as individual session tickets. I am sure that plenty of people bought the tickets and may be selling them on the secondary market by individual session or maybe some fans (both UM and MSU alike) bought the whole strip and will sell the session their team is not playing in. I would expect to see lots of UM and MSU fans at both sessions. Also, you better believe their will be fans (on both sides unfortunately) that will react to the performance of their rival team. It happens all the time when Duke and N. Carolina play at the same location. I am with most of the others on this site that will not boo or cheer against MSU loudly. Would it bother me if they lost? Absolutely not. I just hope my fellow Michigan fans don't stoop to a low level by engaging in vocal cheering against and booing of MSU's performances. I know Sparty fans will do it. I hope UM fans do not.

Go ahead and boo if you want to or cheer loudly for MSU's opponent, even if its just to root for the upset. It'll improve the overall experience of what can be some dead buildings in the first round. When Duke and UNC have been together in Greensboro and elsewhere, it's made for a great atmosphere as the fans of each root for the other to get upset.

I won't be rooting for Ohio or State, because...THIS IS MICHIGAN. But I would like to see the conference succeed.

I'd love the media coverage if we made history and got like 5 teams to the Elite 8.

The SEC in football has become so annoying, I want to be annoying in basketball.

“True loyalty is that quality of service that grows under adversity and expands in defeat. Any street urchin can shout applause in victory, but it takes character to stand fast in defeat. One is noise — the other, loyalty.”

If you are coming from south of the Palace, it is much easier to get to if you skip the first exit, 81 I think, and hit the first exit north of the Palace and come in from the north. Really easy to do these days with GPS.

early with a trailer full of old couches for sale. Will charge sparties double after their game. Should make a small fortune.

As a rule, Michigan is the only team I root for to win. If seeing the B1G do well is desired as well, root for Valpo to lose. Or for Iona to lose. Never allow the words "I want state to win", or "I hope ohio state wins" to be uttered.

I'm rooting like Hell for all things B1G to prevail. As I'm sure everyone noticed, the" B1G is overrated" backlash has begun in earnest by the media and I would love to see it shoved right back up their ass. The reason we are stuck on the four seed while teams like Marquette & Florida are three's is because the selection committee sucumbed to pressure to not put all the B1G schools up high. So there is nothing that I would like to see more than an all B1G Final Four with Michigan prevailing.

And yes, if I was there I'd root for Sparty regardless of weather they rooted for us or boo'd like crazy.

May well have left the building. Their game is at 12:15 and ours 7:15. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Sparty in possession of UM tix would sell them to the highest bidder and use the money to buy a couch to burn.

I don't really get into the whole 'conference pride' thing because, along with simply hating some of the teams/schools, there's rarely going to be a consensus on which conference is best. If 3/4 teams left are from the same conference, maybe we can all agree then, but it's unlikely to happen.

So if Michigan gets eliminated, I'll probably pull for Gonzaga or another mid major, but no way will I be rooting for little brother (and my little bro is enrolled there, so I get away with that). The only thing that would suck is if half the arena empties out for the 2nd session, but I doubt it.

Really hurt us in recruiting more than the programs we recruit DIRECTLY against doing really well? I never got it either.....I want Michigan to win, and they do that by getting better players from the area and winning games which is easier against worse teams.

I honestly don't care how the other B1G teams do except if they play UM, so I'll be happy for any team other than IU and MSU. I actually like MSU's team except for Nix, so if he is unable to play due to gross fatness, then I'm back on their bandwagon as well. IU with Crean drives me crazy, so I'm fine with hating them. But as others have noted, conference affiliation means that a stronger overall conference (or at least the perception) should help with recruiting, TV exposure, and NCAA bids, all positives.